OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Six years ago, the Maryland-based trainer Mike Trombetta used Aqueduct as a path to get to the Kentucky Derby with Sweetnorthernsaint, who finished seventh behind Barbaro in the 2006 Kentucky Derby as the lukewarm 5-1 favorite.
Sweetnorthernsaint won a maiden race over the inner track in his third start and the Miracle Wood Stakes at Laurel in his fourth start before returning to Aqueduct, where he was beaten less than a length in the Gotham Stakes.
The Robert B. Lewis is one of three graded stakes on Saturday’s program at Santa Anita, joined by the $200,000 Strub Stakes for 4-year-olds over 1 1/8 miles on the main track and the $150,000 Arcadia Stakes over a mile on turf.
Tapizar, winner of the Grade 2 San Fernando Stakes last month, will be a heavy favorite in the Strub Stakes, a key prep for the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap on March 3. Bob Baffert, who trains Liaison, has the two entrants who drew the inside in the field of eight in the Strub – Jaycito and Prayer for Relief.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Isn’t He Clever ran himself out of New Mexico.
When the colt won the $104,200 Riley Allison Futurity over 6 1/2 furlongs by 11 3/4 lengths at Sunland Park on Dec. 30, owners Kirk and Judy Robison and trainer Henry Dominguez decided to try for a loftier goal – Saturday’s $200,000 Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita.
The Grade 2 Lewis Stakes over 1 1/16 miles will be Isn’t He Clever’s first start around two turns and provide a stern test for a gelding who has won 3 of 4 starts.
Applauding is on course to make her two-turn and 3-year-old debut at Fair Grounds after all.
Trainer Al Stall said Wednesday that Applauding was a likely runner in the Rachel Alexandra, part of a multi-stakes program on Feb. 25 in New Orleans. That’s a change from the tentative plan Stall and owner Ramona Bass had made last week, when the Martha Washington at Oaklawn Park became a possible spot for Applauding. But after giving the situation further consideration, the Rachel Alexandra, a 1 1/16-mile race with a $200,000 purse, became the preferred destination.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Apprehender, the 3-year-old who won his debut with a Beyer Speed Figure of 97 last month at Oaklawn Park, will remove blinkers for the Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest, trainer Ingrid Mason said Wednesday.
The Southwest is the first of two graded preps for the Arkansas Derby, and the Feb. 20 race will be the two-turn debut for Apprehender. In his first start Jan. 26, he set the pace and drew out by 7 1/4 lengths in a maiden special weight sprint.
As part of its Feb. 18 card which features the Grade 2, $200,000 Barbara Fritchie Handicap and the $100,000 John B. Campbell Handicap, Laurel Park will honor the connections of Rapid Redux, the gelding who has compiled a 22-race winning streak and earned a special Eclipse Award.
The festivities will include a poster giveaway, a winner’s circle presentation, and an autograph session with owner Robert Cole, trainer David Wells, and possibly jockey J.D. Acosta.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Anunciata found graded stakes company a little more than she could handle when making her U.S. debut last fall at Churchill Downs. The Peruvian-bred should find the competition a lot more to her liking when dropping down against second-level optional claiming foes for her south Florida bow in Friday’s one-mile, $56,500 main event at Gulfstream Park.
ARCADIA, Calif. – La Sombre was entered for the $100,000 Valentine Dancer Stakes at Santa Anita last Saturday, a race that did not have great appeal to trainer Brian Koriner as it grew closer.
Koriner scratched the 5-year-old La Sombre in favor of an optional claimer for fillies and mares over about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course on Friday. He said he hesitated in trying La Sombre in the one-mile Valentine Dancer Stakes because of a disrupted training schedule caused by wet weather in late January.
Trainer Paul Jones has two of the leading qualifiers for the $226,050 Los Alamitos World Championship on Feb. 19 with the champions Jess You and I and Noconi.
He needs both veterans to be at their best to beat a strong group of eight rivals in the 400-yard final.
Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin reports that Consortium exited his sixth-place finish in Sunday’s Grade 3 Holy Bull in good order but is still scratching his head a bit over the highly regarded 3-year-old prospect’s poor performance. Consortium, with jockey John Velazquez aboard, was beaten nearly 21 lengths by Algorithms over a sloppy track in the one-mile Holy Bull.
